Federal cabinet ministers meeting in Calgary welcomed news Tuesday that the Trump administration was giving the go-ahead to the Keystone XL pipeline, even as uncertainty hangs in the air over what new conditions the United States will try to impose.

The project by Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. — intended to link Alberta’s oilsands with the refineries on the U.S. gulf coast — had been rejected by former president Barack Obama but this morning President Donald Trump signed executive orders advancing both Keystone XL and the U.S.-based Dakota Access pipelines.

However, Trump, who has taken office espousing a staunchly protectionist position on trade and an ‘America First’ position on international relations, told reporters at the White House that the government would “renegotiate some of the terms.”

Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr said he doesn’t know what kind of terms Trump is referring to but he isn’t concerned about new conditions hanging over the project.

“This is a very good moment for Alberta,” he told reporters on the second day of the Liberal cabinet retreat at the Fairmont Palliser.

“This decision will result in many, many jobs for Albertans and it’s also a sign that there is a recognition by the new American administration that Canada can be a source of economic development and of job creation on both sides of the border.”

Carr said Trans Canada will have to reapply for a new permit from the American government and it will be up to the company to negotiate its terms.

He noted all Canadian approvals for the project remain in place. Construction of the pipeline is projected to create 4,500 direct and indirect jobs in Canada.

The Liberals have always said they supported Keystone, which faced fierce environmental opposition in both Canada and the United States, but Obama’s veto came shortly after the Trudeau government took office in 2015.

Proponents of Keystone XL say it will give a significant boost to Alberta, which has been slammed for the last two years by low oil prices, by increasing transportation capacity for the province’s oilsands crude and easing the midwestern bottleneck that keeps prices for heavy oil low.

While Premier Rachel Notley was cool to Keystone as an opposition MLA, she said in Edmonton her NDP government welcomed the pipeline approval and would assist Alberta energy companies in whatever way possible.

“The announcement today is a good first step but there’s no question that we need to monitor closely what exactly it is that the Trump administration is talking about when they speak about the terms,” she said, noting that the president had also signed an executive order mandating that U.S. pipelines be built with American steel.

But Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who met with the federal cabinet along with Calgary Police Service chief Roger Chaffin and local social agency representatives, said he wasn’t concerned over Trump’s talk of new conditions.

“The new president has signalled that he is interested in things that have commercial value and the commercial value of this pipeline for all the stakeholders is quite high,” he said.

He said the Keystone nod — along with Ottawa’s recent approval of Canadian pipeline projects — was good news for Calgary, which has been hit hard by the economic downturn, with a 10.2 per cent unemployment rate.

“When we have Calgary-based companies being able to do giant projects like this here and around the world, that is a huge benefit for our downtown economy because we need people to do the contracts, the law, the accounting, the HR on all of this stuff. And that is certainly a major driver of our economy,” said Nenshi.

Last fall, the Liberal government approved two pipeline projects: Kinder Morgan’s expansion of its Trans Mountain line to the British Columbia coast and Enbridge’s overhaul of its Line 3 into the U.S.

On deck is TransCanada’s proposed Energy East pipeline to the Atlantic coast. Carr said it will be up to the company to determine whether how it fits in its plans if Keystone moves forward.

The government says however that Keystone approval does not affect the case for Trans Mountain, which faces significant opposition in B.C. from environmental groups and some municipalities and First Nations.

Carr said there is no conflict between the pipelines coming onstream and Canada’s commitments under the Paris accord to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“I would remind Canadians of the importance of protecting the environment while creating jobs in the energy sector and these are the twin pillars of the objectives of our policy and have been all along,” said the Winnipeg MP.

On the climate file, the Trudeau government has mandated carbon pricing by the provinces and an accelerated phase-out of coal-fired power.

Trudeau will hold a news conference Tuesday afternoon. In the evening, he and Calgary minister Kent Hehr will hold a town hall at the University of Calgary.

The prime minister may take some heat over a recent remark in an Ontario town hall where he said the oilsands need to be phased out. The government has said Trudeau was simply referring to the long-term goal of moving away from fossil fuels.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s press conference:

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